Latest California Healthline Stories
Thomas Responds to AMA Demands on Medicare Provider Payments
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) on Wednesday said that if the American Medical Association does not agree to a proposed pay-for-performance Medicare reimbursement system, Congress might not reverse a scheduled reimbursement cut to doctors, CongressDaily reports.
Four of Five Businesses To Continue Retiree Drug Benefits, Survey Finds
Nearly four out of five U.S. businesses that currently provide retiree health benefits will accept subsidies offered by the federal government to firms that continue to provide retiree prescription drug coverage equal to or better than the Medicare drug benefit, according to a new survey released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates, Long Island Newsday reports.
Legislative Hearing Addresses Not-for-Profit Status of Hospitals
Legislators at a hearing on Wednesday questioned whether not-for-profit hospitals whose profit margins exceed certain levels should be allowed to maintain tax-exempt status, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Four Counties Act on Health Care-Related Issues
The Boards of Supervisors for Riverside, San Diego, San Mateo and Stanislaus counties on Tuesday acted on health care-related issues.
Arizona Files Suit Alleging Drugmakers Inflated AWPs
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard (D) on Wednesday filed suit against 42 drug companies for allegedly inflating or misstating the average wholesale price for their products, the Arizona Republic reports.
Congressional Debate Over TRICARE Expansion ‘Intensifying’
A “long-simmering battle” over a provision in the Senate fiscal year 2006 Department of Defense authorization bill (S 1043) that would extend military health benefits for National Guard members and reservists is “intensifying” as a conference committee prepares for a potential vote on a final version of the legislation next week, The Hill reports.
DOJ Concludes Investigation at Atascadero State Hospital
An eight-member Department of Justice investigations panel last week completed an inspection of Atascadero State Hospital that could lead to recommendations for addressing some staffing-related issues at the facility, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reports.
AMA Opposes Pay-for-Performance Measures Without Higher Medicare Payments
American Medical Association Executive Vice President and CEO Michael Maves on Monday sent a letter to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan saying that the group will oppose efforts to adopt a pay-for-performance Medicare reimbursement system unless Congress acts to permanently reverse payment cuts to doctors, The Hill reports.
Riverside Press-Enterprise Examines Enrollment in Medicare Drug Benefit
Some Medicare beneficiaries are “perplexed” by the new Medicare prescription drug benefit and California has “an especially large and vulnerable population” that could be affected by the confusion, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
California Residents Not Getting Recommended Amount of Exercise, Studies Find
More than one in four California teenagers do not get the recommended amount of weekly exercise and one in four adults do not walk at all for transportation or leisure, according to two reports released Tuesday by the University of California-Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.